Serene Indigo
by noerai
Summary: A/U. Lightning Farron is the star swimmer of her high school swim team, and the girl who Hope Estheim has a major crush on. Will Hope's feelings be able to reach her? HopexLightning and slight CidxLightning
1. Novice Beginnings

**Author's Note:** This was originally going to be a short one-shot fanfic, but I liked the story so much that I decided to turn it into a multi-chapter fic. The Mizumi Swimming Academy has two different teams the diving swim team and the competitive swimming team. This story just focuses on the competitive swim team.

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**Title:** Serene Indigo

**Rating:** T for suggestive themes and language

**Summary:** A/U. Lightning Farron is the star swimmer of her high school swim team, and the girl that Hope Estheim has a major crush on. Will Hope's feelings be able to reach her?

**Setting:** This story disregards the canon plot/storylines of FFXIII and FFXIII-2. This story takes place at the seaside town of Bodhum at Mizumi Swimming Academy.

Mizumi Academy Swim Team:

_Lightning Farron Age 18_

_Serah Farron Age 16_

_Snow Villiers Age 18_

_Hope Estheim Age 17_

_Noel Kreiss Age 17_

_Vanille Age 16_

_Fang Age 18_

_Cid Raines Age 18_

Swim Coaches:

_Sazh Katzroy Age 40_

_Rygdea Age 37_

**Important Note: **Hope's inner thoughts will be written like so, "_Mizumi Academy_" in italics with quotations.

**Chapter 1 Novice Beginnings**

"This was it, this is the year that I'm going to confess my feelings to her", Hope said full of determination as he closed his changing room locker. Hope was wearing the official academy's swim team black swimming trunks that had the academy's logo, and a lone indigo stripe that ran down both the left and right side of the swimming trunks. He also had his swim cap and swimming goggles in hand. "It's now or never." Hope exited the males' locker room, and made his way to the academy's practice pool room.

On his way there Hope reminisced about the past and about how far that he has come. As a child, Hope had a great love for competitive swimming, but lacked the courage and confidence to actually pursue it officially because he figured that he wouldn't be any good at it. Those views of his soon changed when he was fifteen years old on that one miraculous day when he was watching the Bodhum 23rd annual junior swimming competition on TV.

That's where he first laid eyes on the cerulean pink-haired beauty known as Lightning Farron. At just sixteen years old, everything about her from her swim style and form was almost on par with that of an adult professional competitive swimmer. Her swimming speed was very fast, and she also had this elegant presence that surrounded her as she swam. The competition that year was tough, but even though she came in 4th place she had a smile on her face and enjoyed just being able to compete.

Hope was immediately captivated by her, and she inspired him to actively pursue his love of competitive swimming. Lightning made him realize that winning didn't matter, but it was important to have fun while competing no matter if you excelled, failed, or came up short of placing.

That following year, Hope applied for the Mizumi Swimming Academy the best swimming school in the city of Bodhum. The academy wasn't a huge school in terms of size, and only accepted a handful of new students each school year. After what felt like an eternity Hope got an admissions approval letter in the mail, and would be able to start attending school there that following fall.

Since coming to Mizumi Swimming Academy Hope's swimming and speed has improved, but of course there are some things that he still needs to learn and develop. Coming to this academy has also given Hope the chance to be close to his idol and crush Lightning Farron.

Just the thought of being able to be close to her made him smile, but whenever he tries to approach her or she is near him he becomes very nervous and shy. This has caused her to think that he's weird, and a majority of the time she doesn't seem to even notice that he exists. Whoever said confessing your feelings to your idol/crush would be easy?

Hope soon returned to reality as soon as he reached the doors of the practice pool area. Hope took a deep breath before he opened the door to the grandeur practice room. The practice room was absolutely breathtaking. On the left side of the room was the spacious competitive swimming pool that had a skylight ceiling above it that was just about as large as the competitive swimming pool. While on the right side of the room was the nicely-sized diving pool which served as the pool that Hope and the swim team members would warm up in.

Not too long after Hope entered the room his team members were alerted to his presence. Snow and Serah gave Hope a greeting wave while Lightning looked at Hope and greeted him with a soft, "Hey". Hope blushed slightly as he generously returned their greetings.

"Hey, come over here Hope", Noel said as he waved Hope over. Noel Kreiss was the first member of the swim team that Hope befriended not too long after coming to the academy. Hope walked to where Noel was which was by the diving pool.

"Hey Noel", greeted Hope.

Fang, Vanille, and Cid Raines were currently in the diving pool warming up. "Hi Hope", Vanille and Fang said with a smile. Hope politely returned their greeting. Cid Raines however remained silent and ignored Hope's arrival altogether.

"_I get the feeling that he doesn't like me very much._"

"Don't let it bother you too much, Hope. Everyone knows that Cid can sometimes be a major ass, but he does pull through for the team in the long run."

On the other side of the room Lightning, Serah, and Snow were standing by the competitive swimming pool talking.

Hope took a seat by Noel who was sitting on the edge of the black and white square designed linoleum flooring by an opening of the diving pool and had his feet in the water.

Out of the corner of Hope's eye he saw that Lightning had put on her swimming cap, goggles, and dived into the competitive pool for a practice swim run. Her swimming form was still as elegant as ever as she moved as one with the water, and made it back to the starting point in what seemed like no time.

As Lightning got out of the pool her indigo one-piece swimsuit hugged her curves and body very nicely. Hope almost lost it when Lightning removed her swim cap from her head, and her silky pink hair cascaded down her face in straight long wet tresses. The pool water just glistened off of her body in the sunlight that shone down on her. It was just like watching a scene from a movie. Hope was mesmerized by the scene that had just unfolded right in front of his eyes. He didn't even realize that he was staring.

Noel saw the direction where Hope was staring, and took the opportunity to tease him a little.

"So, which one of them are you looking at?" Noel asked playfully.

"H-Huh? What do you mean?" Hope said trying to hide his embarrassment.

"C'mon, Hope you can't fool me. I saw the direction that you were staring in. It's become quite apparent to me that you're infatuated with one of the Farron sisters. Now, the only question that remains is which one? There's the younger sister Serah Farron who is considered to be the cute-type among males, but unfortunately she's already taken by Snow Villiers. Then there's the older sister Lightning Farron who is still very single, and is considered to be the sexy-type among males. Either sister is a great catch."

Noel quickly glanced over to where Cid Raines was to make sure that he was out of earshot before he continued. "Cid has been lusting after Lightning for quite some time now. In the past, he would even make subtle romantic advances towards her, but she just casually brushed them off."

Hope became solemn at the news of Cid Raines romantic advances towards Lightning. _"This was going to be even tougher than I ever imagined. How could my feelings possibly reach her when she seems so distant and faraway?"_

Noel immediately saw how Hope was down and decided to drop the subject altogether. "I'm sorry Hope I was just teasing you. I didn't mean for it to get out of hand."

"No, it's alright", Hope said with a small smile forming at his lips. While in truth everything was not alright. "Okay, let's start warming up", Noel remarked. Hope nodded in agreement. Both Noel and Hope slid into the diving pool and started their warming up exercises.

A few minutes later, the two swimming coaches walked in Coach Katzroy and Coach Rygdea. They were dressed in their usual white coach sport jumpsuits with their clipboard and stopwatch in hand.

"Alright team; it's time for official swimming practice. We're sorry that we're late we got held up in a meeting", Rygdea said curtly.

All of the swim team members stopped what they were doing, and took their positions in front of their assigned lane number in front of the competitive swimming pool. Cid was assigned lane one, Snow lane two, Lightning lane three, Noel lane four, Serah lane five, Fang lane six, Vanille lane seven, and last but not least Hope lane eight.

One lane at a time Coach Katzroy timed swim lanes 1-4. While Coach Rygdea timed swim lanes 5-8 for their swim speed on the 100 meter breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle.

Everyone for the most part had decent swim times, but of course Hope's swim times were slower than everyone else's because he was still learning the ropes and getting into the swing of things.

"Estheim, these swim times are not going to cut it. I know that you have it in you, and that you can do better than this. Your current swimming technique and form is what's bringing you down. So, I suggest you effectively get a lot more practice in as the junior swimming competition is coming up soon, and I'm sure that you don't want to bring the team down", Rygdea remarked.

Hope nodded and climbed out of the pool. Hope knew that Coach Rygdea was giving him helpful advice, but Coach Rygdea was also known to show favoritism especially towards Cid Raines. He was also the more competitive one between the two team's coaches.

"Alright team everyone front and center", Coach Katzroy called out.

Once everyone was there the coaches gave an overall report to the team about our respective swim times, and what we needed to individually improve and work on.

Soon it was Coach Rygdea's turn. "As all of you just heard Estheim here needs extra practice and I want one of you to help him out after class practice is over. Now, Estheim which one of your team members do you want to help you?" Everyone of his team members were looking at him awaiting his decision.

Hope's face turned slightly red from embarrassment. Hope's gaze went immediately to where lightning was standing. As soon as her gaze met his he got nervous and looked down at his feet. _"C'mon just say it already! Say you want Lightning to help you." _

Hope looked back up towards Lightning and was about to give his answer, but Snow cut in, "I'll help him." He said with a grin. Coach Rygdea gave a satisfied nod. "Thanks for volunteering your time Villiers. Alright it's settled."

Snow walked over to Hope and slung his left arm over Hope's shoulder. "Don't worry I'll get you up to speed in no time." He assured.

After practice Fang, Vanille, Noel, and Serah wished Snow and Hope good luck before heading to the locker room. They were soon followed by Lightning, Cid, and the swim coaches.

Now it was just Snow and Hope left. During their practice Snow gave Hope some helpful pointers and tips, but it was kind of hard to concentrate because of Snow's obnoxious jokes and banter. _"Just what the hell did Serah Farron exactly see in this guy?"_ Hope just wanted this extra practice session with Snow to be over already.

After an hour passed Snow deemed that they had done enough practicing for the day. Hope decided that he wasn't quite done practicing yet. "I'm going to stay after for a while longer and continuing practicing."

"Really, are you sure?" Snow asked as he climbed out of the pool.

"Yes, I'm sure." Hope replied.

"Okay, but don't overwork yourself."

Once Snow left Hope completely immersed himself into his practice mode and time just ticked away.

Lightning came back to the school because Serah had left her homework folder in her locker, and Lightning being the good sister that she was decided to walk back to the school and get it for her. Since it was now late evening and it would be getting dark soon.

After Lightning retrieved the folder she headed for the back entrance of the school so that she could get back home faster. As Lightning passed the entrance doors to the swimming pool area she heard splashing and stopped walking. She turned her head in the direction of the pool practice room. "Someone's still here this late?" Lightning quickly glanced at her watch, and saw that the pool was going to be closing in thirty minutes. She slowly walked over to the door, cracked the door opened slightly, and peered inside.

"Well, what do you know." It wasn't stated as a question. Sure enough Hope was still here practicing; it would also seem that Snow had left quite a while ago. Lightning couldn't help but be slightly amazed at Hope's determination and effort. It reminded her of when she first started out, and the long hours after class practice that she put in to improve her swimming and speed.

Initially, Lightning viewed Hope as weird and the weak link of the team, but after seeing how he was tirelessly practicing to improve his swimming technique made Lightning view him in a more positive light.

"Hmm, so there's more to this kid than I originally thought." Lightning said with a slight smirk.

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**Author's Note:** Thanks for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	2. Exchanging Secrets

**Author's Note: **I'm glad most of you are enjoying the story so far. Without further ado here's chapter two enjoy :3  
Also, just a slight reminder that Hope's inner thoughts are formatted like this, _"Hope" _in italics with quotations.

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**Chapter 2 Exchanging Secrets **

Two weeks had now passed since Hope began his extra practice sessions with Snow, and everyone was amazed at how Hope had vastly improved within such a short amount of time.

Even Coach Rygdea was impressed and offered up praise. "Well Estheim, you've even impressed me, and let me tell you that is not an easy thing to do."

"See? I told everyone that I would get him up to speed, and I did so am I a great instructor or what?" Snow said boastful.

"Yeah, it's true I wouldn't have been able to get this far if it wasn't for Snow's help." Hope said delighted.

"_No, the real reason that I got this far wasn't because of your great or masterful instructor skills, but because of all the extra hours of practice that I put in after you left each day."_

But Hope decided to let Snow continue to think that conceited thought. There was no need to burn any bridges.

Coach Rygdea cleared his throat before proceeding. "I think it can be safely said, that Estheim here no longer requires the extra practice sessions, and as of today is no longer bound to them."

A resounding cheer headed particularly by Noel, Vanille, Fang, Snow, and Serah resonated throughout the room. Hope's gaze immediately found Lightning's, and he saw her lips form into a soft small smile and was directly smiling at him. Hope could feel his face flushing red.

Out of the corner of Hope's eye he could see that Cid as usual had that indifferent look plastered onto his face. _"Does this guy show any other emotions at all?" _

**_After swim practice _**

On Hope's way to the locker room he was in awe that Lightning Farron actually smiled directly at him. He was so deep in thought that he didn't even realize that he had walked into the girls' locker room.

Hope took one quick look at his surroundings, and saw that he was in the wrong locker room. _"It was a good thing that no one was in here, or this could have become a very embarrassing situation."_ Hope was about to storm out of there, but he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Lightning's and of all people Cid's voice coming from a little further within the room.

Hope's curious mind got the better of him, and he decided to stay and listen in on their conversation. Hope quietly made his way closer to where they were and peered behind a row of lockers. Now, Hope had a perfect discreet view of both Cid and Lightning, and was within perfect earshot of their conversation.

Abruptly, Cid had Lightning pinned between his two arms his face just inches away from hers. Lightning was strangely calm about the whole situation.

"Dammit Lightning! I just can't take it anymore! You know that I harbor romantic feelings for you, and I can't fully concentrate on my swimming lately because you're always on my mind. In the past, I've tried to ignore it, but now I can't only you can quell these feelings of mine."

"Cid, the timing just isn't right, and I don't know if I'm ready to be in a serious romantic relationship right now…"

"Well, maybe this will change your mind." Cid said rather seductively. In one smooth motion Cid pulled Lightning into a deep passionate kiss as his arms slowly wrapped around Lightning's hips.

At that very moment, Hope could feel his heart shatter into a million pieces, and he immediately got the hell out of there so that he wouldn't have to witness anymore.

"This is officially the worst day of my life."

**_The next day_**

Today, Hope decided that he was going to arrive at the academy a little earlier than usual in the hopes of somehow clearing his mind of yesterday's horrific event.

Hope always took the side path to the academy because he liked to view the beautiful scenery that it possessed. Which consisted of a beautiful lush meadow, and a vast amount of cherry blossom trees it was spring after all.

As Hope was taking in the beautiful scenery he was in for a surprise when he saw Lightning sitting in the shade under one of the cherry blossom trees. Flashes of Cid kissing Lightning rushed through Hope's mind, but he instantly shook them off and approached Lightning.

Upon closer inspection Hope saw that Lightning had on a short-sleeve red t-shirt, black shorts, and black ankle boots. _"Damn! Lightning just looked good in anything she wore."_

Hope fought back all of his nerves, and decided to try and strike up a casual conversation with her. "Hi, Lightning." Lightning looked up at him and said, "Hey, Hope."

"Uhm, do you mind if I join you?"

"No, not at all." Hope took a seat next to Lightning, outstretched both of his legs, and continued the conversation.

"So…do you come here often?"

"Hmm…I guess in a way you could say that. I like to come here to think when I have a pressing matter on my mind." Hope was amazed at the fact that Lightning was even opening up to him it was surreal.

"Really? And just what kind of pressing matter could be on the star swimmer of our swim team's mind if you don't mind me asking of course."

Lightning let out a sigh before she answered. "Yesterday, that bastard Cid Raines cornered me in the locker room, and even confessed his feelings towards me."

"Oh…" Hope knew the incident that she was referring to as he had a front row seat of it, and he was desperately trying to erase that very event from his memory. "So, what did you do?"

"I flat out rejected him because I didn't feel the same way about him, and he's just way too possessive and clingy for my taste." It then dawned on Hope that he didn't fully witness the aftermath of the confession. He had left about half-way through the viewing, and so all of this time his was worried over nothing. Hope let out a small chuckle and a sigh of relief.

Lightning started to wonder why the hell was she even telling Hope all of this to begin with? Why did she feel like she could let her guard down in front of him? She had never felt this way around anyone before besides her sister of course, and when did it first start? Could it have been when she saw him tirelessly practicing after school that day?

"Hey, Hope. Could you do a favor for me?"

"Sure."

"Can I…borrow your lap?"

Hope could feel the heat rise in his cheeks, but he gave Lightning a nod of approval to do so.

Lightning gingerly laid and rested her head on Hope's lap with her face facing away from Hope's body and closed her eyes. _"Am I in heaven? I might as well be." _

The gentle spring breeze ruffled Lightning's silky pink hair, and there was a growing urge inside of Hope to touch it.

Hope eventually gave into the urge and began to softly stroke Lightning's hair. Hope was genuinely surprised that Lightning didn't tell him to stop or slap his hand away.

Lightning felt at ease at Hope's touch. She liked the feel of his touch on her hair. Today this kid was surprising her in all kinds of ways.

Hope just wanted to stay in this position forever, but the fantasy had to end sometime.

Not too long after they had gotten comfortable in that position Lightning shifted, and lifted her head off of and out of Hope's lap.

She stood up and dusted herself off before offering up a word of thanks to Hope.

"I'll see you at practice."

"Definitely."

Lightning gave Hope a small smile before walking away. Hope just watched her receding form with renewed confidence.


	3. Irreversible

**Author's Note**: Just a reminder that Hope's inner thoughts are formatted like this, _"Lightning"_ in italics with quotations.

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**Chapter 3 Irreversible**

_**Swim Practice**_

"Alright, team front and center." Coach Katzroy called out. Instantly, every one of the swim team members gathered to the center of the room.

Once everyone was present Coach Katzroy proceeded with his briefing. "Now, just in case you've had your head under a rock you should know that the 25th Bodhum Annual Junior Swimming Competition is just three days away. You're going to be competing against the best of the best junior swim teams within your swimming division.

So, now is a very crucial time for you all to get in those final hours of practice to polish up, and to put the final touches on your swimming techniques. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Coach Katzroy." Everyone chimed in unison.

"Then what are you waiting for? Get to practicing." Coach Rygdea said curtly.

After the briefing, everyone effectively went to work on polishing their swim techniques and swim times.

During practice Hope couldn't help but to look over in Cid's direction, and as usual Cid wore that stoic look on his face so well that you wouldn't even have been able to tell that he was rejected just a few days ago.

Once swim practice had ended most of the swim team was ready to call it quits for the day.

"I'm going to stay here and practice for a little while longer." Lightning said.

"Then I'll see you later at home sis." Serah said as she towed Snow away with her towards the exit.

Cid casted Lightning a brisk sneering glare if you blinked you might have just missed it before he headed for the exit.

Fang and Vanille exchanged quick goodbyes with everyone before they left.

"Estheim, are you staying after too?" Coach Rygdea asked.

"Yes sir."

"Alright, you and Farron know the pool's closing time so be out of here before then. I'll see both of you here tomorrow for practice bright and early."

Coach Rygdea and Coach Sazh then took their leave.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow." Noel said and soon followed suit.

Now it was just Lightning and Hope left alone in the room. For the first few minutes Hope and Lightning just practiced in silence the only sounds heard within the room were the echoes of splashing water. Out of the corner of Hope's eye he could see that Lightning had stopped practicing and was floating on her back in her swimming lane. Hope could tell that she was deep in thought pondering something that was plaguing her.

"_I wonder what could be troubling her?"_

Since the day that Lightning opened up to Hope under that cherry blossom tree a change has since then occurred within him. In the beginning, Hope became extremely nervous whenever he tried to approach Lightning, or was within close proximity to Lightning, but now he found himself more at ease and not as nervous around her.

Hope stopped practicing and swam over to the right side of his lane rope and rested his arms on the lane rope before he inquired Lightning about what was on her mind. The swimming lanes were quite spacious and Hope and Lightning were only separated by one lane.

"What's eating you?" Hope asked concerned.

"What are you some kind of problem listener?" Lightning said jokingly.

"No, but I don't like to see people that I care about let alone a teammate suffering in silence. I've learned the hard way that sometimes it's better to share and talk about your problems rather than keeping them to yourself."

Lightning was silent for a few minutes before she said anything else. "To be honest, I just feel extremely pressured, and when you're dubbed the team's star swimmer it doesn't exactly make it any easier. This is the last time that I'll be competing in the Bodhum Annual Junior Swimming Competition before I graduate. I just don't want to let the team down-"

Lightning's sentence was cut short because a gust of water was splashed on her by none other than Hope.

"Hope, what the hell was that for?!" Lightning said slightly annoyed.

"Simple. That was my solution to your current problem."

"Your solution-"

Lightning's sentence was cut short again as Hope splashed another gust of water her way.

"Okay, that does it." Lightning immediately started to splash gusts of water in Hope's direction. It wasn't long before Hope and Lightning fully immersed themselves into their lively game of water tag.

This time as Hope splashed water at Lightning she effectively submerged herself under water to dodge it and swam over to the lane that Hope currently was residing.

Once there she re-emerged in front of him and caught one of his arms.

"I've caught you." Lightning said triumphantly.

"You got me." Hope conceded.

It didn't take long for Hope and Lightning to realize that their bodies were within close proximity of each other's, and that their faces were just merely inches apart. Lightning instantly let go of Hope's arm.

Hope was staring intently into Lightning's eyes and she could feel her heart pounding wildly in her chest. Lightning was bewildered about the whole situation how could Hope have this effect on her?

In this moment Hope felt his feelings kick into overdrive and he couldn't contain them anymore_."I have to let my feelings be known. I can't hold them back anymore…" _

Hope's right hand gently caressed Lightning's left cheek as he slowly leaned in and said, "I'm in love with you Lightning."

As soon as he said that shockwaves resounded through Lightning's body and she immediately became stiff. Hope continued to lean in for a kiss, but Lightning lightly pushed Hope away from her, turned her head slightly to the left, and averted his gaze. Hope's right hand was still caressing Lightning's cheek.

"Wait…" Lightning pleaded.

Hope's right hand slowly but gently turned Lightning's head back towards him and once his gaze met with hers Hope said in a firm voice, "I can't.

Hope leaned in and closed the distance between their lips as he snaked his arms around Lightning and pulled her body closer to his. At first, Lightning resisted but soon she found herself kissing Hope back and melting into the passionate kiss. She was genuinely surprised to find out that Hope was such a good kisser as she continued to lose herself between their hot and intense kisses.

Things quickly escalated when Hope deepened the kiss and their tongues were soon caught in a battle of dominance. Lightning let out a soft moan before she broke off the kiss and pressed her forehead against Hope's.

Lightning let out a soft chuckle before she asked nearly breathless. "What are we doing? An important swimming competition is just three days away."

"Just letting our feelings be known and remembering an important lesson to have fun when competing and not to worry so much about winning." Hope answered also nearly breathless.

"Really? That's what we're doing?" Lightning asked playfully.

"That's exactly what we're doing." Hope said while cracking a smile.

"So…back to a previous subject matter I'm curious to know just when exactly did you fall in love with me?" Lightning asked genuinely curious.

"It was when I saw you competing at the 23rd Bodhum Annual Swimming Competition." Hope said slightly sheepish.

"That long ago, huh?"

"When did you first fall in love with me?" Hope asked curiously.

Lightning pulled back to look at him as she said, "I'm keeping that a secret for now."

"That's not fair. You're such a tease." Hope said childishly.

Lightning let out a small laugh before she said, "You know you're really cute when you get angry." Lightning promptly looked at the clock on the wall for the current time and decided that it was time to head home. Lightning swam to one of the edges of the pool and climbed out.

Hope was surprised by her abrupt leaving. "Lightning you're leaving already?" Hope said somber.

"Yeah, I have some things that I need to get taken care of today. Also, Hope when it's just the two of us you can call me Light."

Hope became elated after Lightning said that and started practicing saying Light out loud. "Light, Light, Light…"

Lightning could feel her cheeks flushing red and she immediately reprimanded Hope for saying it so care-freely. "Right now, we need to keep our relationship status a secret and just solely focus on the competition at hand. After the competition is formally over then we can let everyone know about our relationship."

"Alright, alright," Hope said conceding.

Lightning waved Hope goodbye before she exited the room, and left Hope alone to his blissful thoughts.


	4. Seaside Finale

**Author's Note: **Just a reminder that Hope's inner thoughts are formatted like this, _"Farron"_ in italics with quotations.

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**Chapter 4 Seaside Finale**

_**25th**__** Bodhum Annual Junior Swimming Competition**_

There was quite a crowd present this year for this competition Hope noticed as he scanned the swimming arena.

"Team gather round." Coach Rygdea and Coach Katzroy called out. The swim team members herded together for what would be their final briefing before the competition.

Coach Katzroy started off, "The day has finally come. This is the day that each and every one of you have trained and mentally prepared yourselves for. Don't lose focus and just concentrate on the goal ahead."

"Now, let's show these other teams that we mean business and let's kick some ass!" Coach Rygdea said sternly.

Everyone gave a resounding, "Sir, yes sir!"

Hope started to clear his mind of any distracting thoughts and got fully focused.

The swim teams warmed up as they waited for the competition to begin, and as they did each team was scoping out their competitors. Hope saw that the reigning current overall 1st place swim team from Palumpolum was here in full swing, and Hope could easily surmise that they would be the team to beat.

Soon the competition was kicked into full swing and things quickly turned dicey. Lightning was able to place 1st in both the women's 200 meter butterfly and freestyle. Hope placed 2nd in the men's 200 meter freestyle and 3rd in the men's backstroke. Everyone else on the team was able for the most part able to pull out respectable position placings as well.

On the current scoreboard our team was placed 2nd overall. While the swim team from Palumpolum was currently placed 1st overall and were in the lead score-wise among the swim teams.

The final score would come down to the men's 200 meter freestyle relay. Before the relay began Coach Rygdea determined the order in which we would swim. Cid would go first, Snow second, Noel third, and I would go last which wasn't too surprising.

Before the relay began the first person of each swim team's relay line-up got into their starting positions, and once the starting whistle sounded each of the teams' first swimmers rapidly took off. Cid was quite a fast swimmer and he gave our team a strong lead against the team from Palumpolum, but as we switched to the next members that lead slowly began to unfortunately shrink.

At last, it was my turn and I swam with such great passion and drive. _"I know that I originally just wanted to have a fun time while competing, and not worry so much about the results, but hell it was kind of hard to do that with the competition being so close the competitive nature in me just seeped out, and I didn't want to let all of those practice hours that I put in go to hell."_

When I touched the starting wall of the lane to lock in the time a sense of relief and nervousness washed over me simultaneously. In one glance I gingerly looked over at the scoreboard monitor and saw that our team had placed first in the relay. We beat the team from Palumpolum by just a mere second. This means with that placing added and calculated into our final score our team would place 1st overall.

This was the first time in a long time that the competitive swim team from the Mizumi Swimming Academy placed first overall.

As Hope climbed out of the pool his team members and coaches earnestly congratulated him, and surprising even Cid Raines did albeit in a subtle manner. Both of the coaches then went over to the score keeper for the official calculated score placing.

Hope was so elated that he completely forgot about his surroundings as he ran up to Lightning and pulled her into his embrace.

"I actually did it! I pulled out a 1st place finish for the team, Light." Hope said triumphantly.

It took a few seconds for Hope to register that he had let something slip out that he shouldn't have.

His team members immediately picked up on his little mishap. "Wait…Hope when did you start calling Lightning by Light? Serah asked notably.

Lightning let out a small sigh as she gently slipped out of Hope's embrace. "I guess there's no use in hiding now that the cat's out of the bag." Lightning then intimately linked her hand with Hope's before she continued, "We're dating."

Not too long after Lightning said that every one of their team members let out a shocked resounding, "What!"

Hope and Lightning could instantly feel their faces turning red. "Were you ever going to tell me?" Serah asked. "Yes, we were going to reveal the news to all of you at the beach house party later today."

Noel, Vanille, Fang, and Snow relayed their congratulations and happiness for the newly dating couple, but Cid Raines didn't utter a single word of congrats and remained silent.

"Well, sis I'm happy for you, and it just seems so fitting that you would find a boyfriend right just before you graduate." Serah said smiling.

Snow then proceeded to give Hope praise for scoring Lightning which effectively earned Snow a punch from Lightning to his shoulder.

_**Farron Beach House**_

Snow, Serah, Fang, Vanille, Noel, and Cid were on the beach playing beach volleyball. While Hope and Lightning were sitting on the front porch of the beach house watching them from afar.

Lightning and Hope had long since before then changed into something that was more casual and comfortable after the swimming competition. Lightning was donning a beautiful strapless white summer dress that curved and hugged her body at all the right angles, brown gladiator sandals, and had a lone indigo flower in her hair that rested just above her right ear which Serah had placed there much to Lightning's displeasure.

Hope was donning a green short-sleeved t-shirt, grey cargo shorts, and had on black flip-flops.

Lightning turned to Hope and said, "You Know, you really amazed me out there today in the swimming competition."

"See? I knew that all of that extra practice would come in handy." Hope said as he turned to face her.

Hope then slowly reached into the right side pocket of his cargo shorts and pulled out two different silver star-shaped pendants. One pendant had "Hope" inscribed on to the back of it while the other had "Lightning" inscribed on to the back of it.

"I did a little shopping today before coming here, and had these custom made for each of us. You can think of it as a memento of me, and anytime that you are wearing it it'll be like you're always carrying a little piece of me with you."

Lightning let out a small chuckle. "Light, this is no laughing matter. In the fall, you're going to be going far-away to Eden University while I'm still stuck here in Bodhum finishing my last year of high school…"

Hope dreaded the day that Lightning would leave to go to Eden University, and these pendants were his way of keeping each other in their thoughts even though they were far apart from each other.

Lightning caressed Hope's left cheek as she said, "I know Hope…I don't want to be parted from you so soon either. The pendants really are beautiful. Could you help me put my pendant on?" Hope smiled and nodded.

Lightning swept her hair out of the way as Hope placed the silver star-shaped pendant that had his name inscribed on it around her neck. Lightning then returned the favor for Hope.

They then both leaned in and shared a brief sweet sensual kiss before heading down to the beach. Cid Raines abruptly appeared in front of them blocking their path.

Lightning and Hope wondered what he was up to and what his objective could be.

"Lightning and Hope I've come to you to apologize for my irrational and rude behavior towards you in the past. I don't want there to be any bad blood between us in the future. I hope that you can forgive me." Cid said humbly.

Lightning and Hope pondered Cid's apology speech for a moment and ultimately decided to accept it. On the surface Hope seemed like he accepted Cid's apology, but deep down he didn't trust him at all and felt like he has an ulterior motive behind this abrupt apology.

After everything was all said and done Hope, Lightning, and Cid joined their other team members down on the beach. As the evening light faded Fang handed everyone one of the sparklers that she had brought with her, and within minutes their sparklers lit-up the late evening sky on the beach that day.

In the end, Hope was glad that his feelings for Lightning were able to reach her, and he looked forward to exploring their blossoming relationship together in various ways in the future.

_Fin_

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**Author's Note:** That's the end of Serene Indigo I hope that you enjoyed it. Also, there could be an epilogue in the works if there is enough request/demands for one so, please let me know what you think and as always thanks for reading :3


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